Accessory

ABSTRACT

Provided is an accessory including: jewelry in which at least one hole is provided; and at least one link member inserted in the at least one hole, the jewelry being selected from a natural gemstone, a synthetic gemstone, a laboratory-created gemstone, a simulated gemstone, a natural raw gemstone, and a natural stone.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an accessory.

BACKGROUND

In the related art, accessories using natural gemstones have been known. In addition, accessories using natural raw gemstones, natural stones, and the like also have been known.

SUMMARY

Accessories in which jewelry such as a natural gemstone, a synthetic gemstone, a laboratory-created gemstone, a simulated gemstone, a natural raw gemstone, and a natural stone is used as their decorative members each typically include a mount portion. In addition, in order that these stones look beautiful, cutting, polishing, and the like are performed on the jewelry.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an accessory that is more environment-friendly than related-art accessories.

The accessory of the present disclosure includes the following aspect.

The accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure includes:

-   -   jewelry in which at least one hole is provided; and     -   at least one link member inserted in the at least one hole, the         jewelry being selected from the group consisting of         -   a natural gemstone,         -   a synthetic gemstone,         -   a laboratory-created gemstone,         -   a simulated gemstone,         -   a natural raw gemstone, and         -   a natural stone.

In the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure, it is preferred that the at least one hole

-   -   include a bottom portion, and     -   extend from an outer surface of the jewelry to the bottom         portion.

It is preferred that the jewelry be the natural raw gemstone.

It is preferred that the natural raw gemstone be a diamond raw stone.

According to the aspect of the present disclosure, the accessory that is more environment-friendly than the related-art accessories is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an example of an embodiment of an accessory of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a decorative member used in the accessory of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating the example of the decorative member used in the accessory of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure includes:

-   -   the jewelry in which the at least one hole is provided; and     -   the at least one link member inserted in the at least one hole         of the jewelry.

In the related art, accessories in which the jewelry (such as natural gemstone, synthetic gemstone, laboratory-created gemstone, simulated gemstone, natural raw gemstone, and natural stone) each include a mount portion for retaining the jewelry. Thus, at a time of producing an accessory, the mount portion is prepared independently of the jewelry. In addition, at times when the natural gemstone, the synthetic gemstone, the laboratory-created gemstone, and the simulated gemstone are used in the accessories, in order that these stones look beautiful, machining such as the cutting of these stones and the polishing of these stones is performed. Then, the stone that has been subjected to the machining is fitted to the mount portion, and fixed to the mount portion, for example, by prong setting. In this way, the stones are used in the accessories. Thus, due to increases in number of members and number of production steps, production cost of the related-art accessories is high. In addition, the related-art accessories are environment-unfriendly.

Further, for example, a technology for providing a decorative rim at an appropriate part of an outer surface of the natural raw gemstone, the natural stone, or the like has been known (refer to Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 53-114492). This decorative rim is formed into a frame shape, a flange shape, or the like by causing an electrolyzed precious metal to be held in close contact along the outer surface of the natural raw gemstone, the natural stone, or the like. However, this technology includes the electrolyzing of the precious metal, and hence is troublesome. In addition, this technology also is environment-unfriendly.

Still further, for example, a pierced earring including a pierced-earring body formed by directly attaching a head portion side of a post to a tourmaline raw stone, and a catch that is freely pulled and removed from this post (refer to Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3081683) has been known. This pierced earring is configured to cause a far-infrared radiation effect by causing at least a part of the tourmaline raw stone to be held in direct contact with an ear, and does not include the at least one link member of the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure. In addition, in this pierced earring, a rear surface of the tourmaline raw stone, which is held in direct contact with the ear, is formed into a flat surface by the cutting, and another surface of the tourmaline raw stone, which is not held in contact with the ear, is formed into a polygon by the cutting. Thus, production cost of this technology is also high, and this technology is also environment-unfriendly.

In contrast, in the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure, the at least one link member is inserted in the at least one hole provided directly in the jewelry. This allows the jewelry to be connected to a main-body part of the accessory (for example, string-like member such as a chain, or the post of a pierced earring) via the at least one link member. With this, the mount portion for retaining the jewelry need not be provided, and hence the number of components is reduced. In this way, the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure is provided as the environment-friendly accessory. More specifically, although the natural raw gemstones (such as diamond raw stone) are not used as they are in jewelry products in many cases in the related art, when the natural raw gemstones are used as the jewelry as in the present disclosure, unnecessary mining can be suppressed. Thus, the environment-friendly accessory is provided.

Further, when the natural raw gemstone is used in the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure, the cutting and the polishing for causing the stone to look beautiful need not be performed, and hence the number of steps of the machining of the stone is reduced. Still further, the metal decorative rim formed by causing the precious metal to be held in close contact with the raw stone through the electrolysis need not be provided. Thus, also with regard to the machining and the processes, the environment-friendly accessory is provided.

Yet further, by using the natural raw gemstone, a burden on the environment is reduced even when the natural raw gemstone is disposed of. This is because the raw stone is a stone that has been originally existing on the Earth.

In this way, the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure can be reduced in number of components, and can be produced with lower energy. Thus, the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure is provided as an accessory that is more environment- and nature-friendly than the related-art accessories.

In particular, when the natural raw gemstone is used as it is, the machining other than drilling (such as the cutting and the polishing for causing the stone to look beautiful) is not performed. Thus, even with use of the same natural-raw gemstone, another accessory having the same shape does not exist. Thus, the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure is enhanced in value of what is called a unique item, thereby being provided as an accessory with high oneness or an accessory with originality. Note that, the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure can be reduced in number of components and number of production steps by having the configuration in which the at least one link member is inserted in the at least one hole provided directly in the jewelry, and hence has an advantage of reducing production cost.

In the aspect of the present disclosure, the jewelry encompasses the natural gemstone, the synthetic gemstone, the laboratory-created gemstone, the simulated gemstone, the natural raw gemstone, and the natural stone. Below, more specific examples of the stones encompassed in the jewelry in the aspect of the present disclosure are mentioned.

The natural gemstone encompasses gemstones to be naturally produced, such as diamond, ruby, sapphire, and crystal. In addition, the natural gemstone encompasses also treated gemstones subjected to processes such as enhancement and treatment.

The synthetic gemstone refers to an artificially-produced gemstone having the same or similar chemical characteristics, physical characteristics, and internal structure as that of the natural stone. The synthetic gemstone is also referred to as an artificial gemstone.

The laboratory-created gemstone refers to a gemstone such as cubic zirconia (CZ) or a YAG, which does not exist in nature, which is produced with use of materials different from those of the natural gemstones, and which has certain chemical characteristics, physical characteristics, and internal structure.

The simulated gemstone refers to a gemstone that is formed with use of, for example, glass, plastic, or a ceramic so as to be similar to the natural gemstone, specifically, so as to have, for example, a color and an external appearance that are similar to those of the natural gemstone, the simulated gemstone having chemical characteristics and physical characteristics that are different from those of the natural gemstone.

The natural raw gemstone refers to a stone that is produced as a raw material of the natural gemstone, and that has not yet been subjected to the cutting or the polishing (remained in a naturally produced state at a time of being mined). Note that, when the natural raw gemstone is excessively large, the natural raw gemstone may be subjected to the machining only to an extent of having a size suited to the accessory.

The natural stone refers to a naturally produced stone other than the natural raw gemstone.

It is preferred that, in order that the accessory according to the aspect of the present disclosure is provided as the environment-friendly accessory, the natural raw gemstone be selected from the above-described stones as the jewelry. In addition, it is more preferred that a diamond raw stone that is rare be selected as the natural raw gemstone. In particular, by selecting the natural raw gemstone, more specifically, by selecting the diamond raw stone, even diamond raw stones of such low quality as not to have been used can be applied as they are to accessories. With this, wasteful consumption of resources can be suppressed, which can contribute to creation of sustainable societies.

Herein, the at least one hole to be provided in the jewelry refers to a hole that is artificially provided in the jewelry and that allows at least a part of the at least one link member to be inserted thereinto.

Below, an example of a preferred embodiment of the accessory of the present disclosure is described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the example of the embodiment of the accessory of the present disclosure. A necklace 100 according to this embodiment (example of the accessory) includes a chain member 50 (example of a string-like member), a diamond raw stone 10 (example of a natural raw gemstone, which is simply referred to as “raw stone 10” below), and a link member 30 (example of a link member) that links the raw stone 10 to the chain member 50. The necklace 100 includes a charm 70 constituted by the raw stone 10 and the link member 30 inserted in the raw stone 10. The charm 70 is linked to the chain member 50 via the link member 30. In the raw stone 10, an insertion hole 12 (example of a hole) that allows the link member 30 to be inserted is provided. In addition, in the raw stone 10, a joining portion 14 that fixes the link member 30 under a state in which a part of the link member 30 has been inserted in an opening portion of the insertion hole 12 is formed.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are respectively a perspective view and a side view illustrating an example of a decorative member used in the accessory of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic view in which the charm 70 (example of the decorative member) illustrated in FIG. 1 is viewed in a direction on one side for ease of understanding of a relationship between the raw stone 10 and the link member 30. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the charm 70 at a time when the charm 70 is held under a state in which an inserted part of the link member 30 extends along a Z-direction shown in FIG. 2 (upper-and-lower direction in the drawing sheet). In this embodiment, for the sake of convenience, a direction along the part of the link member 30, which is inserted in the raw stone 10, is defined as the Z-direction. In addition, one of directions orthogonal to the Z-direction is defined as an X-direction, and a direction orthogonal to both the Z-direction and the X-direction is defined as a Y-direction (refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3).

The raw stone 10 has a naturally-produced amorphous and indefinite shape at a time of being mined. For example, the raw stone 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 has a shape that extends in a direction (Z-direction) in which a side of the raw stone 10, on which the joining portion 14 is provided, and a side opposite thereto of the raw stone 10 are connected to each other, and that is longer than dimensions in the directions (X-direction and Y-direction) perpendicular to this Z-direction.

The insertion hole 12 is a hole having a cylindrical shape or a substantially cylindrical shape, which is artificially formed by laser machining to include a bottom portion 16. The insertion hole 12 is formed to extend linearly from an outer surface of the raw stone 10 to the bottom portion 16, and to have a depth that allows the link member 30 to be inserted and fixed. Note that, the depth of the insertion hole 12 corresponds to a length from the outer surface of the raw stone 10 to the bottom portion 16 of the insertion hole 12.

The link member 30 is a member formed by plastically deforming a bar-like member having a substantially circular shape in cross-section. The link member 30 includes a linear shaft portion 31, and an annular link portion 33 formed continuously from the shaft portion 31. The shaft portion 31 extends straight from one end side of the link member 30 (end portion on one side), which is arranged near the bottom portion 16 of the insertion hole 12, toward the link portion 33. A part of the shaft portion 31 is inserted and fixed in the insertion hole 12 provided in the raw stone 10. The link portion 33 is arranged on another end side of the link member 30, which is not inserted into the insertion hole 12. The link portion 33 is formed into the annular shape by curving the other end side of the bar-like link member 30 such that the link portion 33 is linked to the chain member 50. Thus, the link member 30 has a P-shape overall. The joining portion 14 is formed by applying an adhesive (not shown) into the insertion hole 12 to which the link member 30 is inserted. This joining portion 14 keeps the link member 30 and the raw stone 10 fixed to each other.

In order to produce the charm 70, first, the raw stone 10 and the link member 30 that is formed into a predetermined shape are prepared. Then, the insertion hole 12 is provided by performing the laser machining at a predetermined part of the raw stone 10. Next, the end portion on the one side of the link member 30 is inserted into the insertion hole 12, and the joining portion 14 is formed with the adhesive. In this way, the charm 70 illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 is obtained.

In the charm 70, the joining portion 14 is provided by fixing the end portion on the one side of the link member 30 and the insertion hole 12 to each other with the adhesive. The joining portion 14 may be provided by inserting the one end of the link member 30 into the insertion hole 12 after the adhesive has been applied into the insertion hole 12, or may be provided by inserting the one end of the link member 30 into the insertion hole 12 after the adhesive has been applied to the one end of the link member 30. Then, the link portion 33 of the link member 30 of the charm 70 is linked to the chain member 50. In this way, the necklace 100 is obtained. In this case, the link portion 33 of the link member 30 may be formed at the time when the link member 30 is linked to the chain member 50.

Note that, the insertion hole 12 may be provided in the raw stone 10 by methods other than the laser machining. As long as the insertion hole 12 can be provided, any other known methods are adopted. The insertion hole 12 is not particularly limited in shape or size. Although the insertion hole 12 provided in the raw stone 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes the bottom portion 16, the hole to be provided in the raw stone 10 is not limited to this form. As long the hole in the raw stone 10 is provided to be capable of allowing the link member 30 to be inserted thereinto, the hole in the raw stone 10 may be formed, for example, in a form of a through-hole that penetrates from an outer surface on one side of the raw stone 10 (example of jewelry) to an outer surface on another side of the same. When the through-hole is provided through the raw stone 10, the link member 30 may be formed into a ring shape.

Although the adhesive is used for fixing the end portion on the one side of the link member 30 and the insertion hole 12 to each other, the adhesive need not necessarily be used as long as the raw stone 10 and the link member 30 can be fixed to each other. For example, the link member 30 may be fixed to the raw stone 10 by utilizing other fixing mechanisms such as fixing mechanisms utilizing engagement (more specifically, hooking) of the raw stone 10 and the link member 30.

In addition, although the single insertion hole 12 is provided in the raw stone 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, two or more holes may be provided in the raw stone 10. For example, two insertion holes each including the bottom portion 16 may be provided in the raw stone 10 such that a single link member may be inserted into each of the insertion holes. In this way, the raw stone 10 may be linked to the chain member 50 while suspended via the two link members. Alternatively, for example, two through-holes may be provided through the raw stone 10 such that a single ring-like link member maybe inserted through each of the through-holes. Also in this way, the raw stone 10 may be linked to the chain member 50 while suspended via the two link members. Note that, from a viewpoint of nature-friendliness, it is preferred that only one hole to which the link member is inserted be provided. With this, drilling can be omitted, and the number of the link members can be reduced.

The raw stone 10 of the charm 70 of the necklace 100 is not limited to the diamond raw stone in the illustration, and may be other natural-raw gemstones such as a sapphire raw stone, an emerald raw stone, a ruby raw stone, and a crystal raw stone (natural stone). Further, plating such as gold plating may be performed on at least a part of the raw stone 10 such that an aesthetic appearance of the gemstone is enhanced. Note that, from a viewpoint of providing an environment-friendly accessory, it is preferred that the natural raw gemstone be utilized as it is. Still further, since the raw stone 10 is a natural raw gemstone, the raw stone 10 has the naturally produced shape, and this shape is not limited.

Although the link member 30 has the P-shape in which the end portion on the other side (link portion 33) is formed into the annular shape, the shape and the size of the link member 30 are not limited thereto. As long as the raw stone 10 and the chain member 50 can be linked to each other, and as long as the raw stone 10 suspended from the chain member 50 can be suppressed from dropping, the link member 30 may be formed into various other shapes such as a hook shape. Alternatively, the overall shape of the link member 30, the shape of the part of the link member 30, which is inserted into the raw stone 10, or the shape of the part (exposed part) of the link member 30, which protrudes from the raw stone 10, is not limited to the shape illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, and may be various other shapes.

Although the example of the accessory is described by way of an example of a form of the necklace 100 in FIG. 1, the accessory is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 1. In addition, the accessory is not limited to the necklace, and may be in various other forms such as a pierced earring, a non-pierced earring, a brooch, a tiny pin, a ring, a bangle, and a bracelet. In these cases, the link member to be provided to the jewelry is formed into shapes and sizes suited to the forms of the accessories.

Although the example of the preferred embodiment of the accessory of the present disclosure is described hereinabove, specific configurations are not limited to those in this example, and various modifications may be made within the gist of the present disclosure. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An accessory, comprising: a natural raw gemstone in which at least one hole is provided; and at least one link member inserted in the at least one hole.
 2. The accessory according to claim 1, wherein the at least one hole includes a bottom portion, and the insertion hole extends from an outer surface of the jewelry to the bottom portion.
 3. The accessory according to claim 1, wherein the natural raw gemstone is a diamond raw stone.
 4. The accessory according to claim 2, wherein the natural raw gemstone is a diamond raw stone. 